Buffalo Bills hero dies three days before his birthday as his team pays emotional tribute
Stew Barber, a starting left tackle who won back-to-back league titles in 1964 and 1965, passed away last week.
Barber had enjoyed his retirement from the league in South Carolina and died surrounded by his family at the age of 86 last Wednesday. He would have turned 87 last Saturday.
Barber was a native of Pennsylvania and began playing the sport of football at a young age.
After breaking his own father's high school record in the shot put, Barber received full scholarships to play basketball and football at Penn State. He played on both sides of the line in college.
Barber graduated in 1961 and was selected in both the NFL and the AFL Drafts that season.
The Dallas Cowboys selected him 30th overall in the third round of that year's draft, while the Bills took him 25th overall in the fourth round.
Faced with a decision, Barber picked Buffalo in order to stay closer to home.
After spending his rookie season at outside linebacker - tallying three interceptions, including a pick six - Barber was moved to offensive tackle for 1962.
He'd remain there for the rest of the decade - protecting Bills quarterback Jack Kemp en route to two AFL titles.
Barber earned five AFL All-Star selections and two All-AFL First Team selections.
When the AFL-NFL merger happened in 1970, Barber was named to the second-team on the AFL All-Time Team.
But Barber never played in the NFL, retiring in 1969. He transitioned to the Bills' front office - beginning as a college scout before rising through the ranks and becoming assistant general manager and vice president.
He retired in 1983 and lived out his final days in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Barber is survived by his wife Vicki, three daughters, and many grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘No Colon, Still Rollin'': Cass Bargell, US scrum-half and ostomy advocate, sets sights on World Cup
A few years ago, Cass Bargell gave a Ted Talk at Harvard, the same university where she studied integrative biology and played scrum-half, helping the Crimson to a national 15s title and earning nominations for US player of the year. Onstage, visibly nervous, she clutched a rugby ball as if for emotional support. 'I dropped the ball,' she says, laughing. 'They edited it out.' Bargell didn't drop the ball with her talk, which offered a compelling account of her traumatic experience with ulcerative colitis and her extraordinary recovery. It all began in late 2020, with alarming symptoms. Bargell kept playing through quickening pain but eventually, in November 2021, underwent ileostomy surgery to remove her colon and create a stoma, an opening in her abdomen to allow waste to pass. Just a few months later Bargell was back playing rugby, the sport she found as a middle-schooler in Summit, Colorado, as aggressive as ever but now wearing an ostomy bag. The title of her Ted Talk sums up her determination and her emergence as an advocate for life after surgery: No Colon, Still Rollin'. She has told her remarkable tale many times, including to former NFL Man of the Year and fellow patient Rolf Benirschke, for The Phoenix, official magazine of the United Ostomy Associations of America. But now, at 25 and eight times capped, Bargell is about to step onto the biggest stage of all – the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup in England, where the US kick-off against the hosts on Friday. Speaking to the Guardian, she said that though life with an ostomy had not 'gotten any easier … I think I've gotten a lot better at handling it. 'I think some things have actually gotten harder, in some ways. The longer I've had it, the more it feels like this daunting thing that's gonna go on for ever. And I think I have, like, those big emotional moments, but I'm a lot better at handling it day to day. I don't think about my bag and I know how to change it much faster now. I know how to handle my supplies.' Bargell's play gives no clues of her extra burden. In Washington in July against Fiji, as the Americans struggled to hold a narrowing lead, the 5ft 4in dynamo forced two crucial turnovers, stealing Fijiana ball at the ruck. Turning to the nearest reporter to ask 'Who's that flanker the Eagles brought on?', the Guardian was swiftly enlightened: not only was Bargell not a forward, but also, 'that's nothing: she plays with an ostomy bag.' Asked if that played on her mind during games, she said: 'No, I don't think about it. But I'm really lucky that I'm supported by my coaches too. 'When I'm playing and I get hit in the bag, I don't feel anything, I don't think anything. I just put the ball back strongly. But if we're in training and we're doing a drill … where we come up and hit each other and then backpedal, reload, come up at each other again, backpedal, reload, just like working on the constant up and back, as the attacker I was just getting hit straight in the bag over and over and over, and I was like, this never happens to me in a game, and I'm really uncomfortable. 'I wasn't hurt from it or anything. I just was like, that's wearing my bag down more than I need. And my coaches are like, perfect. 'No problem. You'll hold the pad next time.' So then everyone was in the line and I just had a [tackle] pad, and it was fine. 'So it's not like I love getting hit in the bag repetitively. It's just that when it happens, it's not a big deal. I also feel like my right fend has gotten much stronger since I got my ostomy. I don't like people getting that close, so when I can avoid it, I do.' She laughs again, and switches from hand-offs to helping hands, saluting the influence of Ilona Maher, the US center, Olympic sevens medalist and social media star who has fired global interest in the women's game. 'Ilona, the version you see on the internet is how she is,' Bargell says. 'She's, like, a fun, big personality. And also everything she says about there needs to be more stars [in women's rugby] and we need to lift more women up, she lives that and walks it with us. She's helped me so much with sharing my story, with all the social media stuff and everything she talks about in that world. 'On the field, she's fast and she's powerful and she's strong and she can pass, and she brings so much to our team. I love training with her. She's also a really strong organizer, which I don't think people can always see, but she does communicate a lot and helps us all.' Bargell, Maher and the rest of the Eagles may need all the help they can get on Friday: England are favorites to win the World Cup, having crushed rivals France in their final warm-up while the US lost to Canada, another title contender. Looking at that game, Bargell identified a failing familiar from the meeting with Fiji in DC: a strong start not maintained. 'The first half felt easy,' says Bargell, who will start on the bench behind Olivia Ortiz on Friday. 'It felt like that's what we practiced in training, and it was just about executing it. 'We've been working a lot on finding our energy right after half-time and being able to come out and start the second half the way we started the first half, because it really wasn't like we weren't surprising ourselves with what we were doing that first half. It was what we practiced. And so it's just about finding a way to keep that energy throughout the whole game.' Bargell is one of many Eagles who this year played in Women's Elite Rugby, the semi-pro league which has just completed its first season, with Bargell turning out for the Boston Banshees while working as a data analyst for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She speaks favorably of WER as a step up from the amateur game, if not at the level of Premiership Women's Rugby, where senior Eagles including Ortiz play, where Maher shone for Bristol, and in which England's Red Roses ply their fearsome trade. 'I think an interesting part about our team is that we really rise,' Bargell says. 'We rise to the occasion. And so I know we'll rise [against England]. 'It's an incredible opportunity to be a part of that opening match at all, and I know everyone's really excited for it. We've honestly just been focused on building our own systems. It's not like these past three weeks were only focused on England.' True: Australia and Samoa also await, two wins most likely needed to make the quarter-finals. Australia offer the sterner test. In Perth in May, the Wallaroos downed the Eagles, 29-17. Bargell remains confident. 'We all believe we have a lot of threats, and like who we are as players,' she says. 'And so if we can bring our team together in that way, then we can compete.'
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: How AFL team will use Snoop Dogg as a defence as they try to get their star off the hook for using a shocking anti-gay slur during a match
The Adelaide Football Club is trying to reduce a proposed five-game suspension that is set to be handed to their player Izak Rankine by arguing that the AFL has committed a double standard in booking US rapper Snoop Dogg to perform at this year's Grand Final. Rankine is currently the subject of an investigation after he was accused of making a homophobic slur, allegedly calling an unnamed opponent a 'f****t', during the Crows' three-point victory against Collingwood on Saturday. Talks between the AFL and the Crows regarding the slur have stretched into the fourth day and it is now expected that a decision on his sanction will be announced at some point on Thursday. It is understood that the Crows have been given more time by the AFL to respond to the league for the proposed five-game penalty, which was unveiled by former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire on Tuesday. 'The AFL advises that the Adelaide Crows have requested additional time to respond to the AFL's proposed determinations regarding an alleged incident with player Izak Rankine,' AFL general manager of corporate affairs Jay Allen said in a statement. 'The AFL has granted this request and will provide an update on the matter tomorrow.' The Crows will deploy several arguments in their bid to reduce the severity of the sanction that Rankine will receive. One of those submissions references how the AFL has employed Snoop Dogg for their Grand Final entertainment. The US rapper has a 1998 hit called 'Doggz Gonna Get Ya' which uses the same slur, 'f****t', that Rankine is being investigated for. Snoop Dogg had also published a now-deleted image on Instagram in 2014 that showed two men together, with the rapper adding the caption: 'Go suck ya man n get off my line f.A.G'. However, the US rapper, known also as Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jnr, has stated that he is not homophobic, adding that he has friends who are gay. 'I don't have a problem with gay people. I got some gay homies,' he said in an interview with The Guardian back in 2013. Other footy commentators have called the AFL out on its decision to book the US rapper, considering the league's current stance on promoting a diverse and inclusive culture within the sport. AFL CEO Andrew Dillon published an LGBTQI+ Action Plan earlier this year in which the footy chief wrote: 'I want to be clear: there is absolutely no place for homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia – or any form of discrimination for that matter - in our game, workplace, or society.' The league has taken a strong stance against homophobia in the past two seasons by handing out heavy suspensions to multiple players. West Coast's Jack Graham was suspended last month for four games for making a 'highly offensive' homophobic slur towards a GWS Giants player. Sydney youngster Riak Andrew was suspended for five matches for a homophobic slur made in a VFL match. The Crows are set to put multiple arguments to the AFL. They will also claim that Rankine's remorse over the matter should be taken into consideration when assessing whether there should be a reduction in his suspension Several other players were suspended last year, with Suns player, Will Powell, receiving a five-match ban and Jeremy Finlayson, of Port Adelaide, being handed a three-match ban. The Crows, meanwhile, are on the cusp of playing in finals this year, with the premiership hopefuls looking to break their 27-year wait for a flag. However, it is looking likely they will be without small forward Rankine for the postseason fixtures. The 25-year-old has been a crucial cog in Matthew Nicks' side's surge to the top of the AFL ladder, booting 31 goals this season while also averaging 20 disposals a game, an above-average figure for the league this season. The Crows will to also argue arguing that Rankine has shown remorse by choosing to phone the Magpies player he allegedly made the slur to on Sunday morning to apologise. It comes as Tex Walker revealed this week that he had called his team-mate to check in on him and revealed that the contrite forward will 'accept whatever comes his way.' 'He's very remorseful and he understands that he's made a mistake and he'll accept whatever comes his way,' Walker told Triple M. 'He hasn't been outside. He had a full day of investigation with the AFL yesterday. 'We will support Ranks, however, we don't agree with what happened.' The Crows will also submit that Rankine was provoked by an incident with Dan Houston, in which the two players engaged in a heated war of words on the pitch. It came after Houston had knocked Rankine out during the Showdown clash and copped a five-week ban for the collision. The details of their conversation have not been revealed but it is understood that Houston had made reference to Rankine being carried off the field last year. Adelaide will face North Melbourne in their final regular-season match of the 2025 campaign. They are also arguing that suspensions for finals matches should be given greater weight than regular-season games. Collingwood boss Craig McRae revealed that he has checked in on the player subjected to the alleged homophobic slur. 'Yeah, I think so,' he said, when asked if the Collingwood player was OK. 'We had a good chat over the weekend and then again Monday morning just to check in, it's about making sure our players are safe,' McRae told reporters on Wednesday. 'But I don't want to demonise Izak either. 'Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, and the young lad seems like a really respectful young man and he's made an error.
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Efton Chism III to trouble for Russell Wilson: NFL preseason storylines that actually matter
Most of the preseason is noise. Starters sit. Teams don't game plan. Coaches roll out bland schemes, evaluating their own roster rather than attacking the opposition. But there are always some threads that have a real, actual bearing on the regular season. Here are five storylines that look like they will matter in 2025. The Giants entered the year with a well reasoned quarterback plan. They would use 36-year-old Russell Wilson as a bridge starter until first-round pick Jaxson Dart was ready, probably somewhere around mid-season. Well, it appears that Dart is ready now. The rookie completed 14-of-16 passes for 137 yards with a passing touchdown and rushing score against the Jets in his second preseason game, building on a solid performance in his debut. Brian Daboll has done what good coaches should do: he has met Dart halfway. Rather than drowning his rookie in a complex system, Daboll has ported over big chunks of Dart's college playbook. It's Ole Miss concepts with pro gloss, designed to get Dart comfortable. Ole Miss money play The early returns have been promising. Dart does look comfortable in the pocket. He has been fine with the speed of the game. For a rookie starter, those are the first two boxes to check off. By making his offense as Dart-friendly as possible, Daboll has given the quarterback a platform to flash his arm talent. In his second outing, Dart didn't make as many 'wow' throws, but he showed a stronger grasp of the Giants' offense. Wilson, meanwhile, has been fine. Good in spurts. But he's the same old Russ we saw in Pittsburgh: capable of hitting beautiful strikes down the field, but limited in attacking the shorter and intermediate parts. With Dart in the lineup, the Giants can threaten every area of the field. He is a fearless deep-ball thrower and a genuine rushing threat, even if he's sometimes a danger to himself. The offense has also taken on a different rhythm with the rookie in the lineup. With Wilson under center, the Giants have looked mechanical and laborious. When Dart has taken over, the operation has been slicker, with Daboll ratcheting up the tempo. Running such a slim, up-tempo system won't be enough to navigate a full season, but it's enough of a starting point to chuck the rookie in until he can come to terms with a broader playbook. Daboll insists there is no competition. 'Russ is our starter. We're going to keep developing Jaxson,' Daboll said this week. That's understandable; Daboll wants to keep pressure off a first-year player and has a ready-made vet who could squeeze out a couple of wins until Dart can run a more sophisticated scheme. But Dart has shown enough in preseason that he should be chucked into the deep end for Week 1. The only reason to mess around with Wilson is to try to eke out a couple of wins so that the coaching staff and front office can keep their jobs. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Yes, the Patriots have another shifty slot receiver. Efton Chism III has been a preseason darling. The undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington is almost a meme of a New England slot: tough, undersized, a fidget spinner in and out of breaks, always open. Efton Chism III dominated that @Patriots drive with 3 huge plays, including a TD!Stream on @NFLPlus With Josh McDaniels back running the offense, Chism is a lock to make the Patriots roster. And New England is sneakily deep at receiver: Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte bring a nice blend of veteran knowhow, toughness, and explosivity. Third-round pick Kyle Williams will be an immediate downfield threat, while Chism does damage underneath. It's a solid, varied collection of talent. Chism will probably make the team ahead of Ja'Lynn Polk (second round) and Javon Baker (fourth round), two draftees from a year ago. Baker is a possible trade candidate, while the Patriots are expected to stash Polk on injured reserve after a nightmare first year in the league. The injection of weapons is good news for Drake Maye, who was forced to throw to the weakest crop of receivers in the league as a rookie. It's not just the receiving corps, either. If we're handing out preseason MVP awards, rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson would be near the top of the standings. Henderson was initially tabbed as a third-down specialist. He was a prolific receiver at Ohio State and the best pass-protecting running back in the rookie class. But Henderson has been given a full run with the offense in preseason, showing he can anchor the early-down run game, return kicks and add some juice to the passing attack. The Patriots needed their draft class to hit after last season's debacle, in which they ended the season 4-13. So far, so good this time around. Buffalo spent the offseason fortifying their defensive line. But the preseason has exposed issues on the back end of the defense. The Bears roasted the Bills' backups in the second week of preseason, with three quarterbacks throwing for a combined 357 yards and two touchdowns. Being lit up by Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson is one thing; being shredded by Tyson Bagent and Austin Reed should set off a five-alarm fire. All over the league, teams look short at corner. The Eagles, Chiefs and other top contenders are scratching around for starters or backups in their secondary. But the Bills have three worries: who will start opposite Christian Benford at cornerback? What's the ideal safety tandem? Do they have enough depth? Sean McDermott is one of the league's best coaches when it comes to working with the secondary. He can find no-names and turn them into impactful starters. When McDermott starts grousing about a group, you know you're in trouble. And the coach has taken sporadic shots at his safety room throughout the preseason. That includes 2024 second-round pick Cole Bishop, who was slated to be a starter this season. 'Cole has missed quite a bit of time … It remains to be seen what he is truly able to do for us,' McDermott said after the Bears' trouncing. 'We're getting short on time.' There are concerns at cornerback, too. Rookie first-round pick Maxwell Hairston is dealing with an injury, pushing the returning Tre'Davious White into the starting lineup. Behind White, it's slim pickings. And at the safety spots, the Bills are relying on Bishop or Damar Hamlin to become consistent starters. For most teams, a secondary shortage would be a concern. For the Bills, it's borderline existential. Depth matters. The Bills played the fewest snaps in base defense last season (three linebackers) and led in their use of dime defense (six defensive backs). That's McDermott's vision for the defense. To hit those rates, the Bills need seven or eight reliable players in the secondary, given the potential for injuries and suspensions. Right now, they have one: Benford. Few teams are operating with as much urgency as Buffalo. Every year with Josh Allen in his prime is Super Bowl or bust. Last season, they were undone by a misfiring pass rush. They tried to address that in the offseason, but now look woefully short in the secondary. Lions general manager Brad Holmes has done it again. The Lions traded up to grab Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa in the third round of the draft, taking him 98 spots before the consensus big board – a reliable indicator of draft value. Holmes and the Lions do things their own way, routinely selecting players a round or two before the consensus board has them slotted. On many of those picks, Holmes has been proven correct. But there was a twinge of being high on his own supply in the most recent draft, giving up two future third-round picks to move up 32 spots to select TeSlaa. It's just preseason, but the early signals suggest Holmes was right again. It's hard not to get caught up in the TeSlaa hype. The long, rangy receiver is a splash play waiting to happen. There is almost a languid feel to how he cuts across the field. But when he explodes, he's gone. TeSlaa offers a big target to Jared Goff, and he can play above the rim, leaping and plucking balls out of the clouds. TeSlaa's traits have translated into preseason production. He has grabbed 8 of his 11 targets, scoring two touchdowns and averaging 13.1 yards a catch. OK THEN ISAAC!!!#MIAvsDET | 📺 Lions TV Network In college, TeSlaa was not a go-to target. He is still raw and inconsistent. But the Lions don't need him to be a volume player. With Amon-Ra St Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta, Detroit have plenty of dependable weapons. TeSlaa will add extra pop to an already explosive unit. At this point, it's almost unfair. Nothing can sap the energy out of a fanbase like a quarterback competition featuring Daniel Jones. The only thing less inspiring may be Jones winning one. Jones has been named the Colts' starter over Anthony Richardson despite a blah preseason showing. The Colts opened the preseason with a plan to give the two QBs an equal number of drives and reps to decide who would be the team's starter. The plan was for Richardson to take the bulk of snaps in the first week, with Jones getting the majority in the second week. That idea dissolved when Richardson went down with a hand injury on the first drive of the preseason and Jones entered the lineup. Shane Steichen reset in Week 2, flipping his approach and giving Richardson the game time he was intended to receive in the opening week. But it was telling that Jones, who took fewer snaps, still received more reps with the Colts' starting offense. Snap by snap, there was little to split the two. Richardson remains all upside and volatility, while Jones was steadier. Does anything scream Daniel Jones louder than an 11-play, 77-yard drive that ends in a field goal? Does anything say Anthony Richardson like producing the throw of the preseason (called back for a flag) after butchering a snap and blowing two pre-snap protection checks? Anthony Richardson placed this deep ball perfectly Stream on @NFLPlus It's funny, in a sense, that Jones is the quarterback painted as the stabilizing force. He finished with 42 interceptions and 50 fumbles in 69 starts with the Giants, producing one of the highest turnover rates in the league. Like Richardson, Jones is a volatile quarterback, albeit one in dink-and-dunk clothing. Picking between the two came down to trust. 'It's everything,' Steichen said about choosing a starter. 'It's the operation, the communication in the huddle, the checks, the consistency.' Richardson's inability to coordinate the game pre-snap and stick to the rhythm of the system continues to ding his progress – and his agent said on Tuesday that he is unsure of his client's long-term future with the team. For all the sizzle he can provide an offense, Richardson – who the Colts took with the No 4 overall pick just two years ago – still struggles with the basic mechanics of operating and processing a pro offense, and he has yet to prove he can stay healthy. There wasn't a right call for Steichen to make; both quarterbacks will probably see playing time this season. In a few drives with the Colts, Jones still looked like a liability, but the offense was more polished with him under center. For that alone, he's been given the first crack.
